DA Revelations Episode 7: Home for Christmas
by AngelExposed
Summary: Remy is home for Christmas for the first time in years. More signs of his powers evolving are beginning to show, and he's about to discover something that could change his life forever.
1. Chapter 1 Limitations

Episode 7

Home for Christmas

Chapter 1 - Limitations

Rogue's voice was nothing more than a whisper, "what?"

Remy LeBeau stared at both his hands in awe, "you didn't absorb your powers..." he raised his eyes, he began to laugh like a lunatic. "You _didn't _absorb my _powers_," he said it again, as if he needed to emphasize the point.

"It's a fluke," said Rogue, shaking her head, it was too hard to believe, and to believe it and then to be let down if it didn't happen to be true, it would make things much too hard to take. "I mean, it can't be..."

Absurdly, Remy was still laughing, "but I'm _awake! _I didn't pass out! I feel fine, I feel...good..."

"I don't..." Rogue held her wrist still, it was throbbing, "you _electrocuted me!_ How the hell did you do that..."

He shook his head, "I...I don't know. It wasn't like I was_ trying _to do it..."

"Well it _hurt_," Rogue sucked in a breath and shook her hand in pain, suddenly she said, "you need to talk to the Professor – and Hank."

"About what? About the fact that you got a static shock from me?"

"That wasn't a static shock," Rogue pulled herself up and walked away from him, "that was dangerous!"

"Where the hell are you going?" he asked, getting up too.

"To see if the Professor is awake..."

"Chere, it's Christmas eve, even if he _is_ awake...do you think now is the opportune time to start bugging him about something that may have been a stupid fluke?"

"Don't you know how dangerous this could be?" Rogue asked as he caught her arm and stopped her from entering the off hall into the west of the building. She turned to him and looked at him seriously, "do you remember the last time you _didn't_ have your powers completely under control, Remy?"

He dropped his hand from her elbow and looked at her, he didn't like to think of it, although it still somewhat haunted him. The pain was not only vaguely emotional, but he still had echoes of the physical pain that the accident that left Jared Rickman no longer living were still carried with Remy LeBeau years later, and it was not easily forgettable.

Remy tried to compose himself, "that wasn't the same thing. And that wasn't my fault either," he tried to justify, "it took _two _people for that to happen – he _put_ his goddamn hand right through my body and held onto my fucking spine! I didn't _know _I was charging that dresser up!"

"Remy..." Rogue sighed, she took a firm hold of his shoulders; he felt her long fingernails slightly dig through the thin t-shirt he was wearing. "Massive fluctuations in powers and new manifestations of powers – that isn't anything to just play around with like it's nothing. There's _kids_ here...everyone we know and love is here, and Kitty will be bringing her baby here tomorrow..." Rogue reminded, "and what about Jessie...?"

He dropped his eyes to the floor at the mention of Jessie's name; he'd been trying to ignore the strange paternal instincts that seemed to surface whenever he was near the little girl. The logical answers all made sense and he didn't want them to – and what was worse, it felt more than logical. It felt...it felt stronger than anything else he'd ever felt.

"You don't want anything to happen to her, right?" Rogue put her gloved hand on his cheek and tilted his face so he would look at her.

"Of course I don't," he recoiled from her; the discussion left him feeling very uneasy. He sighed, "I just..."

"Why are you so scared that we know about your powers?" Rogue asked, "is there...is there something we should know?"

"Of course not," he uttered, "I just..." he swallowed, "I don't like being poked and prodded, and being forced to test my limitations, okay?"

Rogue folded her arms insecurely; it was her turn to look away now, "you didn't mind when you wanted me to test mine," she pointed out.

"That was different..." he retorted, "Your limitations haven't _been_ tested yet. Mine have for years."

"You've been different since...since you had that outer-body experience thing," she kicked an imaginary stone off the marble tiled floor, "the Remy I used to know was comfortable and fearless, but these days...seems like you're nervous...uneasy...maybe even scared."

Remy looked at her, "if I tell the Professor and Hank about this – what will they do to me?"

She began to make her way back to the Christmas tree, "DNA testing, expose you to various different situations...they might put you through a reflex test, to see if reflex in a dangerous situation will bring out any hidden abilities you didn't know you had."

"I don't have any other abilities..." he followed her, "but whatever it was...it acted as a barrier between your powers and my skin...I felt you...I felt how soft your hand was...how warm it was..."

She stopped at the tree, she tapped one of the glittering baubles and watched it shimmer in the glimmering lights. Remy stopped up behind her, she felt his arms wrap around her and rest against her waist.

"Maybe you're right," he sighed near her ear, he kissed her shoulder, she felt the warm pressure of his mouth on the cotton of her blouse; "Maybe ain't your power limitations we gotta be testin'. Maybe...maybe it be mine."


	2. Chapter 2 A Wish

Chapter 2 – A Wish

It felt as if he'd barely fallen asleep; the room in a slightly chilly but comfortable dark blanket around him until he felt the slight tugging of his covers. He heard a whisper, "Mr. LeBeau..."

He'd been dreaming; he was sitting behind a desk with his hair slicked back wearing a very drab grey suit and a white shirt that had been washed too many times that it had become an off-white that made him look dingy. There was a nameplate on his desk, R. LeBeau, and a keyboard for a computer in front of him – a photo of Rogue was on the desk, but he could only see from the eyes up of the picture thanks to the pile of paperwork he had yet to work on.

"Mr. LeBeau..."

"I'm just about to email those figures..." he mumbled.

"Mr. LeBeau..." came the voice again, a tiny whisper, a very tiny tearful whisper.

He came out of the dream in a haze, "hmmm..."

"I'm scared..."

Opening his eyes slowly, he realised the dim light from the hallway was spilling in, and he could see Jessie's silhouette standing beside his bed, he could hear her whimpering. He leaned up, exhausted and sore, the pain-reducing effects from the painkillers had long since faded, however, he still felt the heavy exhaustion they'd brought down on him only a few hours ago. "Wha' wrong, mignon?" he asked in a tired murmur.

"I had a nightmare," she sobbed, he saw her rub at her eyes. "A bad man came to the mansion..."

"S'ok...no bad man here," he promised, he sat up, perhaps a little too quickly, pushing a surge of pain through his wound. He pushed a hand hard against the dressing as if this would mute the pain from screaming at him. "No one's gon' get ya..."

"The man with the yellow eyes will..." Jessie burst into more tears.

"Yellow...eyes?" he yawned, he ran a finger through his hair to brush it from his face, "Kurt?"

"No...the man who talks like you..." she sobbed, she threw herself onto the bed and into him, he bit back the urge to cry out when she accidentally brushed his dressing, but he put his arms around her and hugged her, he stroked her hair.

"S'ok, mignon, no man wit' yellow eyes gon' get you now..." he yawned, "c'mon, I take you back to your room," he sighed.

"No!" Jessie cried, "I don't wanna be in there on my own!" he could see the shine of her tears in the light from the hall.

He sighed, "Jessie, I can't let you stay here. Ain't appropriate..."

"Then will you come to my room with me and stay with me 'til I fall asleep?" she asked.

"Fine," he sighed, he got up, lifting her up into his arms. She was so tiny and light, but his back still objected as did his wound; all the same, he held onto her and carried her to her room; the light was still on, the room immaculately tidy, but the bed clothes all on the floor as if she'd jumped out of bed and thrown them there in haste.

He put her down on her bubble-gum pink sheeted mattress and picked up her blankets and pulled them over her; he sat at the foot of her very small bed with his back against the wall.

She lay down, pulling the covers up to her chin, tiny fingers curled over the edge, "Just stay with me a while, okay?" she asked, "if he comes...then you can stop him..."

Remy was curious as to who this man with the yellow eyes and the accent was, but he didn't want to ask her more questions and bring more nightmares to her already troubled sleep.

She patted the small slither of pillow next to her cheek, "here..."

He sighed and squeezed himself between the wall and her tiny body to lay beside her, he looked at her in the warm glow of her bedroom lamp, her blue-grey eyes stared back at him, they were tired, and they looked tired and worried. He felt badly for the girl, she should have been excited, wondering how long it would be until Santa came; but no, she was worried a strange nightmare man would get her in her sleep. He wondered if the man she was seeing was just a warped version of himself in her nightmares.

"You're sad," said Jessie, she put her tiny hand upon his much larger face, "You always look so sad...even when you're smiley."

He forced a smile, wan as it may have been. He hated how perceptive the girl was, and how she seemed to somehow understand him so much more than most adults did. What he hated more was how it hurt that she knew these things, and that her knowing his sadness seemed to amplify the feeling several times more.

"Is it 'cause of Gabrielle?" Jessie asked, her cheek smushed up one side against the pillow so that her face no longer seemed symmetrical.

Remy decided to answer truthfully; she seemed too perceptive for him to lie to her about it. "Sometimes," he sighed softly.

Jessie took some time to consider this, her eyes seemed to see into a whole other world as she stared away from him, "I think you'd have been a really good Daddy," she confessed.

He was surprised with this, he propped his cheek up on his hand; the words _should_ have stung, but somehow, the compliment touched him, and at the same time, intrigued him. "Why'd you say that?" he asked.

"Just like...a feeling I got. You can tell when someone is good at something. Like Miss Pride...she'd be a good mommy...you can tell."

"How?" he asked, interested.

"Because she cares so much about everyone – can you imagine how much she'll love her baby?"

Remy smiled, "I don't need to imagine it. I know it."

"I wish someone would love me like that," Jessie sighed.

"Kitty does love you, mignon. You should never question it, not for a second," he reached over and patted her hair.

"And you?"

"I'm...I'm very fond of you," he admitted.

"But you don't love me."

He wanted to explain to her that it would be very unhealthy for him to admit he loved her, although in some way, he thought he may love her in some way as a part of the family he had in the X-Men.

"Jessie," he said softly, in his most sincere voice, "it's not that I don't _want _to love you. When you're older, you'll understand why things gotta be a certain way..."

She looked at him, "I could be like Gabrielle...if you like..." she said.

He swallowed back a lump of emotion, "no one can ever fill the space in my heart that Gabrielle has, Jessie. I wish you could – I wish it were that easy, but it ain't..."

She sighed, it was a slightly frustrated sigh, but she closed her eyes, "I wish I was her."

He stared at her sadly, he wondered if it was wrong for him to wish the same thing.


	3. Chapter 3 Christmas Morning

Chapter 3

Christmas Morning

"Come on, you sleepyheads! It's Christmas Morning!"

Remy's eyes fluttered open to a beam of sunlight coming through the small window in the small room – he sat up quickly realising he was not in his own bed, or own room and panic began to set in when he realised he was in Jessie's bedroom.

Jessie had woken up and she was rubbing her eyes, she got out of bed without even a thought and stepped into her Hello Kitty slippers and stumbled tiredly out of the bedroom past Hank McCoy who was standing at the door.

Remy winced at the pain in his chest; he glanced up at Hank McCoy, and he almost expected to see suspicion that a grown man had been found sleeping in a child's room. But Hank didn't seem fazed by it at all. Why did he find that so...odd?

"I...I was helping her get through a nightmare," Remy slowly climbed out of the tiny bed which he'd been cramped on, "I guess I dozed off myself."

"It's fine, don't worry," Hank said, a vague smile playing upon his fanged mouth.

Remy walked over, "You must be thinking that this is a bit weird. I know I'd think it was creepy if a grown man was sleeping in a kid's room..."

"Remy, don't sweat it," said Hank, he put his hands up and gestured for the younger man to calm down, "no one thinks anything of the sort."

With a raised eyebrow, Remy stared at the furry man.

"While your trustworthiness around valuable items is somewhat questionable," the Beast joked, "it's obvious that you're very trustworthy in caring for a child."

"How is it obvious?" Remy asked with a yawn.

"Jessie adores you, Remy. She trusts you – and after all she has been through in her short life, I doubt she would cling to you the way she does if you were a bad man."

It was a very logical explanation, but Remy felt the was more to it; it didn't seem right that Hank nor Kitty had even the slightest suspicion. What did they know that he didn't?

"Is...is this thing with Jessie all a test or something?"

Hank's smile seemed to instantly drop, "why...whatever do you mean?" he asked, and it seemed that he was deliberately trying to sound innocent.

"Are you using Jessie to test how trustworthy I am with children so I can be deemed a responsible babysitter for future reference?" Remy queried.

Hank seemed to relax, "of course not," he moved away from the door to let Remy pass, "this isn't an exercise to see how much we can trust you; it's simply us letting nature take it's course. It's interesting to watch is all. If I wasn't mistaken, Remy, I'd say that you were developing paternal instincts over Jessie."

Remy froze in the hallway, he looked away.

"Well...are you?" Hank asked.

"I don't know what it is," Remy lied, "she ain't got no one, really, so I keepin' an eye on her is all. I promised Kitty I would, after all," he reminded. "I didn't do a very good job of it night before last," he added with a sigh.

"You're making up for it," Hank assured, "now go downstairs, so many presents to be opened before everyone starts to arrive for Christmas dinner later."

Everyone was in their nightgowns and pyjamas sitting around the Christmas tree; all looking tired and puffy-eyed, as if could have used a few more hours in bed before surfacing. And there was Jessie, sitting on the floor surrounded by many presents with their glittering decorative bows and holographic papers.

Remy walked up behind Rogue who was sitting on a chair from the kitchen, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she turned to look at him.

"Morning," she yawned widely, eyes all puffy and dark.

Jessie looked around her, "all these say 'Jessie' on them!" she said in awe.

"Then they must all be for you," said Jean, she knelt down beside the girl and handed her a present, "you should open them!"

Jessie began to tear into the paper, Remy watched, emotion tugged at his heart.

"I...need some coffee," he said, he feigned a yawn although the exhaustion wasn't all that far from the truth. He made his way into the kitchen; luckily someone had already thought ahead to put a pot on and it was nearly done. He grabbed a cup from the cabinet, a spoon from the drawer, and the sugar bowl from the counter.

"You okay?"

He heard Rogue from the doorway, and he glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Fine, just tired," he lied, he looked down.

"It's fine to be sad, you know," said Rogue. "Christmas is hard for all parents who've lost a child..."

He grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup, he dumped a spoonful of sugar in and stirred; he was silent.

"Just say something, Remy. For gods sake, if you want to let it out, let it out."

"Fine, you want to hear what I think? I think this whole thing with Jessie is tearing me apart...."

Rogue didn't respond, she waited for him to continue.

"It should be _Gabrielle _I'm watching opening presents, not Jessie," he pointed out. "I've avoided celebrating every single Christmas up until now...and I don't know if I can really make it through this one. I thought I _could_ but obviously..."

"You're a little shaken, is all," Rogue stepped closer, she fixed the collar of his bedtime t-shirt with tender loving affection, "You were taken off guard, but this time you're going in prepared. Even if you don't feel prepared, just force a smile, pretend to be happy for Jessie's sake. It's her first real Christmas..."

"I know, and I don't want to ruin this for her..."

"Then don't," Rogue said. "And it's _your _first Christmas here in a very _very_ long time...so get your coffee, and join us..." she kissed the fingertips of her left glove and pressed them to his cheek; with those final words she left him alone in the kitchen with his thoughts.

Sucking in a breath and forcing back the onslaught of emotions, he went to join them.

It was Christmas after all.


	4. Chapter 4 Jessie's Present

Chapter 4

Jessie's Present

There were so many presents for Jessie, that Remy quickly realised she was becoming like the spoiled youngest child in a family of many children. But looking at the little girl, he realised no matter how they spoiled her, it was justifiable that they dote on her so much when she'd grown up with nothing most of her life – not even a parent's love.

Remy sat upon a kitchen chair with Rogue on his knee as Jessie tore through shiny paper and ribbons with the wide excited eyes only a child could have on Christmas morning. Stuffed animals, Barbie Dolls, accessories for Barbie Dolls, a toy cellphone, books (although the tag said 'from Santa', Remy could only assume that the gift of books had come from either the Professor or Hank, and he swayed towards the latter). Pyjamas, jeans that were dyed an outrageous shade of pink, a matching little denim jacket and lots of colourful and glittered logo t-shirts and sweaters.

While Jessie unwrapped, everyone exchanged gifts although Remy paid no attention to their items. He and Rogue exchanged theirs – she got him Calvin Kleins (he'd expected it, of course, it was such a generic gift that all girlfriends seemed to get for their boyfriends regardless). In his presents from Rogue, there was also an expensive deck of customised playing cards with his initials on the back; a few t-shirts (he felt it seemed she was trying to tell him that he didn't have enough clothes), and a couple of DVDs that she'd thought he might like. There were other small and thoughtful gifts, but he was too distracted to focus on everything. He watched Rogue open the gifts he'd gotten her; the expensive designer cashmire sweater; La Perla underwear – very elegant and soft – he was slightly amused to see her reaction to receiving these. He handed her her final gift, the small box with her necklace inside.

She opened the box pleased to see the cross attached to it, it looked just as it always had done, although the chain was more expensive and less prone to snapping than the previous one. He unclasped it and put it around her neck.

"I'm glad to see you wear this again," he said as he closed the catch behind he neck carefully. He smiled at her.

Rogue took a small box from out under the chair and handed it to him, "and of course, in return..."

"What's this..." he asked curiously, for he thought he'd opened all of his gifts.

"Something you left a long time ago," Rogue replied, "really, you don't _deserve _to have it back. But since I'm getting my cross..." she teased.

He untied the silk ribbon and then opened the navy blue box – inside was a silver ring with a single yellow gem inside. Surprisingly, he had forgotten all about the ring, even though he'd gone to the trouble of leaving it on his daughter's grave the night he'd left Bayville after the accident involving Jared Rickman.

"The ring you got me for my twenty-first birthday," he murmured. "I forgot all about this..." he gazed up at her.

"I didn't..." she took it out of the box and raised his hand to slide it onto his finger. Without thinking, she slipped it onto the ring finger on his left hand. He seemed startled by this, but he said nothing, he just looked at it. It reminded him of the ring she'd once wore on the ring finger of her left hand.

They stared at each other, and he was sure they were thinking of the same ring, but he wasn't sure if she was thinking of it in the same way that he was.

"Hey, this one doesn't have a tag on it," said Jessie; her sweet and childish voice interrupting their gaze.

Remy turned to look at the gift Jessie was holding up; it was a box wrapped with incredible care, made to look positively exquisite. "Let me see..." he said, recognising it as the present he'd bought her from the jewellery store.

Jessie stood up and came over; she handed him the present.

Remy held it in his hands, "it's beautifully wrapped, isn't it?"

"It's really pretty!" she said, beaming.

"Sure is," said Rogue, she looked at Remy with such a tender glance and Remy gave her a wink and a smile.

He gestured for her to come over and he held the present out to her.

Jessie looked at him.

"Some gifts in life are the things we keep with us for the rest of our lives; something to remind us of the things we've seen and done, things we've been through, things we've felt...," he said in a soft whisper, he placed the box upon her open hand and clasped both of his much larger hands around her fingers and the box. "I hope that will be what this gift will be for you..." he squeezed her hands tenderly.

Her large grey-blue eyes stared across at him, and he felt as if he were staring into a stormy ocean during the calm.

Remy removed his hands from hers and she unwrapped the ribbon slowly, carefully, and it fell to the floor in a gentle swaying dance. She opened the box, inside was a silvery bracelet with heart charm dangling from it; she stared at it in awe. Remy removed it from the box from her and turned the charm around, "I had it engraved especially for you," he said, "see...it says Jessie right here."

She smiled somewhat wanly, although she seemed so unsure if the present could be for her even though it had her name on it. Perhaps it was that it looked so expensive. He wrapped it around her tiny wrist and carefully clasped it closely enough so that it would not fall off.

Without another word she jumped into his arms to hug him, wrapping her small arms around his neck tightly. He hugged her with one arm, still with one arm around Rogue who was sitting on his knee. He heard the beep of a digital camera and saw Hank standing there with a tiny Fuji Finepix camera in his over-large hands.

"Smile, Jessie," said Hank.

Jessie turned, her forehead against Remy's cheek, and she grinned, all tiny spacey teeth and rosy cheeks. Remy feigned a smile, but he felt an emptiness tugging inside him that made it hard to do so.

"Do you like it?" Remy asked, looking at the bracelet on her wrist.

"This looks very expensive," said the Professor, he wheeled over to examine the bracelet.

"That's 'cause it's platinum," said Rogue with a roll of her eyes, "you know Remy, he doesn't buy cheap," she said out of the corner of her mouth in a murmur as Jessie was gushing over how much she loved the gift.

"It's so pretty!"

"Please take good care of it," Remy begged of her, "I would hate to see you lose it."

"I'm never taking it off!" she giggled, she hugged him again.

Remy wondered why he always felt so awkward whenever she hugged him and yet, it didn't feel particularly _wrong​_?

A loud buzzing sounded off on the intercom panel on the wall by the door. Jean got up from her chair and walked over, "I guess one of our guests is arriving early," she said, she glanced out of the window beside the heavy doors to see a taxi cab at the end of the drive. She hit the button, "Hi," she said into the microphone.

"Hey, it's Kitty!" came the reply.

Jessie jumped up, "Miss Pryde is home!"

"She was meant to stay in the hospital another night," the Professor said with a smirk, "I guess she couldn't keep herself away."

Jean hit the button to open the gates at the bottom of the drive; she opened the door and went outside, a few moments later, both Jean and Kitty entered the foyer; Kitty was taking very short steps, while Jean was holding the bundled up baby in her arms.

"You should have called, one of us would have come to get you," said Logan gruffly.

"I was going to," Kitty said, she checked on the baby in her friends arms before slipping her jacket and scarf off, "but I thought it'd be a nice surprise if I just showed up. I see everyone opened their presents."

A strange silence fell over everyone. Kitty, being Jewish, didn't normally celebrate Christmas, and since the death of her parents – whom she would normally spend Hanukkah with - early in the year, it had been expected she might just stay at the hospital until Christmas Day was over.

Still, there were presents for her regardless.

Jessie ran over to Kitty to throw her small arms around her waist, "merry Christmas!" she said brightly.

"And to you," Kitty said, stroking the girls sleep-mussed hair. "Wow, it looks like you got so many nice things!"

"I got dresses, and Barbie dolls, and dresses for Barbie! And a car for Barbie!" Jessie reeled off, "and a pair of fairy wings..." she giggled, "and thisssssssss from Mr. LeBeau!" she held up her wrist and waved it around.

"Wow...is that white gold?" Kitty held Jessie's wrist to examine the present from Remy.

"Palatum," Jessie tried to respond.

"Platinum," Remy corrected, he and Rogue both stood, and he moved over to Kitty to kiss her cheek, "welcome home, mommy," he smirked.

Kitty gripped a hold of Remy's arm, she searched his eyes, as if she were checking to see if he were really alright.

Caleb started to wail, Logan sniffed the air, "think he needs changin', there's an odd smell of sh---er..." he glanced at Jessie, realising he needed to tone down his language some, "baby poo hangin' in the air."

With a sigh, Kitty took the baby in her arms, "I'll take him upstairs...Can someone go down to the hospital room cabinet and get me some ointment?" she asked.

"I'll do it," Remy shrugged, "where is it?"

Hank patted Remy's shoulder, "unlocked cabinet near my desk, grab a tub from the white box marked sudocrem."

"Okay," Remy shrugged.


	5. Chapter 5 The Revelation

Chapter Five

The Revelation

Remy wandered into the hospital room, the place was neat and quiet, and still smelled heavily of disinfectant. It reminded him of being a patient in that bed only recently, and he cringed a little inside thinking of it. He'd been in this room far too much, and never wanted to be a patient with in it again. It had only been yesterday Jessie had been in the bed there; only been two days ago he'd sat at the bed and held her hand as she slept.

As familiar as he was with the room, he never wanted to be there again; the smell, the bright lights, the shine of the metal cabinets and tiles on the floor all brought back a kind of unpleasantness to him – the room had always felt alien to him regardless of how long he'd lived at the mansion for.

_With my flair for getting hurt recently, I'll probably see more trips to this room one way or the other,_ he thought; the pain in his chest from the wound burned and throbbed as if in echo of his thoughts. He sighed as he walked over to the metal cabinet full of various supplies and opened it; he leaned in and grabbed a small grey tub of sudocrem from the box as indicated. He closed the cabinet.

On Hank McCoy's desk, he saw a photograph of all the current students at the institute, and Jessie was down in front, smiling only vaguely, she looked so out of place with the rest of them even though she was as much a part of the place as the other students were. He picked the photo up and examined it; and then he noticed there was a folder beneath it.

He put the photograph down elsewhere, and put the sudocrem in his pocket; he picked the folder up, noting it had the name Jasmine E. Crowell upon it. Whatever documents inside; it spoke about the little girl. But what importance did she have to the Beast? Was he updating her medical history based on her running away and possibly being a pneumonia risk?

He knew he wasn't supposed to open that folder...and yet, he couldn't help himself. He flipped it open and sat upon the leather chair, he picked up a handful of documents and began to go through them all.

A birth certificate with Jessie's date of birth on the 19th of December 2003, stating a Lucille Crowell was the mother of the girl; James Crowell was the father. He flicked to the next document – a newspaper clipping with the article reading; car crash kills two, Lucy Crowell, 22, and Jay Crowell 31. There was no photograph to show the people who had been killed, only a photo of three year old Jessie, who had survived the horrific crash thanks to a booster seat in the back of the car.

Remy sighed; there were several other documents, copies of letters from various private detective agencies the Professor had hired to try and trace Jessie's parentage, with no success, details of the time paid for investigation and recommendations to other organizations that may be able to help.

He moved onto the next few documents; Jessie's schoolwork from the orphanage in Chicago where she'd been raised for three years – a few drawings, all of happy families Remy noted. _She must have longed for a family of her own,_ he thought in despair as he glanced at each of them, his heart seemed to sink as he flipped over each picture. He found a folded up picture – a large rough piece of paper. He unfolded it carefully, the paint inside had been slightly smudged – some blobs thicker than others had hardened and cracked over time. The painting was of a girl with long yellow hair and blue eyes. A fingerpainted smudge of pink sad mouth; he ran his fingers delicately over the mouth, he could almost feel her pain; could imagine her expression as she'd painted this sad little image of herself that day.

And then there was a letter; the date on the letter read from three months ago, and it was from Moira MacTaggert at the Mutant Research Centre on Muir Island in Scotland, the date on the letter read the 13th of August.

Hank,

I've run through all the information you've given me including Jasmine Crowell's DNA and the DNA you sent me that your computer had confirmed a match

for. I've run it through every process we have; over the past three weeks and I'm

sorry to say I cannot find a maternal match for the girl as you had hoped I would. It's possible Jasmine Crowell's

mother is a human and never had her DNA on record for any criminal or medical

reasons. She may even be a mutant we don't know about – I trust that Professor

Xavier had no success in his research either.

As for the paternity of Jasmine Crowell, all of my tests have concluded that

indeed, her DNA does match the DNA skin, hair and blood samples you sent me.

The chances of Jasmine Crowell being the biological child of Remy LeBeau are so

high that it's indisputable.

He stopped reading, and his heart seemed to just stop in place as if it was no longer beating. He dropped the documents – was this some kind of joke? Was he being set up to this? After all those documents had been just lying around...in an obvious place.

_No...they were hidden under a photograph. I was _never_ meant to see those things...they were keeping things from me. Hank was keeping this from me!_

The room seemed almost black for several moments as he tried to understand the information he'd just read properly, tried to make sense of it and came up completely unsuccessful. With shaking hands he began to pick the documents up from the floor – then he heard footsteps and began to panic, he got down on his knees and tried to arrange the files the way they were in the folder. He stared down at lines of text again on the letter from Moira. _The chances of Jasmine Crowell being the biological child of Remy LeBeau are so high that it's indisputable._

"Remy, what's taking so long? Kitty needs that ointment..."

Remy glanced up to see Hank McCoy entering the hospital room – and there he himself was on the floor on his knees with documents in his hands that he was never meant to see.

Hank raised an eyebrow seeing what the files were – he gave a deep sigh, "Oh dear."

Remy stood slowly; he dropped the files completely and stared at the beast – he felt his chest rising and falling and an unbelievable surge of anger seemed to spawn out of nowhere deep within himself.

"Remy...I know what you must be thinking," said Hank, putting up his large blue hands as if in defence – as if he expected to be lashed out at.

Remy clenched his fists tightly, he heard his knuckles crack; his nerves seemed to crackle with energy; he felt every hair on the back of his neck seem to prickle and stand on end, as if there were static electricity all over the room.

"Remy?" asked the Beast, looking worried; he took a step back as if he sensed something was very wrong.

The paperweight on the desk exploded, and then the post-it note pad followed; tiny pieces of paper exploded into the air like confetti. The penholder on the desk blew up; the pens shot every which way, one of them just barely missing Hank's face as it shot past.

"My god..." Hank watched the paper confetti still floating gently down in the air, the pens clattered to the floor and rolled away. Hank glanced at his own arms to see his fur standing on end as if charged with electricity. "Remy! Stop!"

The bulbs in the ceiling lights began to explode one by one, sending glass showering to the floor like glitter, until the last one went out and the hospital wing was in darkness and the light spilling in from the hallway was just barely enough to light the entrance. Remy's eyes glowed a dangerous red in the dark.

He only spoke seven words, and his voice was thick and cold; "I want to speak to the Professor."


	6. Chapter 6 Feeling of Betrayal

Chapter Six

Feeling of Betrayal

"Remy; I understand your feeling of betrayal, but I must assure you that it was necessary to keep this from you until we felt you were ready to deal with the situation..." Professor Xavier sighed as he stared across his large mahogany desk at the younger man.

Remy sat there with his head in his hands; he felt sick, and all so suddenly drained of all energy after hearing the truth re-confirmed by the Professor's own mouth.

"We found out completely unexpectedly – just as you did."

"How long have you been keeping this from me?" Remy demanded as he glanced up at the man; his eyes were slightly watery.

"In July," the Professor sighed.

"And you never _told_ me?" Remy cried at him. He tried to hide the emotion in his voice but it was extremely difficult. He was full of emotions, all mixed up like a thick stew until it was hard to tell what exactly was what. The revelation that Jessie Crowell was his daughter should have made him happy – in fact, it made everything seem to suddenly make sense. But there were doubts. Who was her mother? How could he be a father? If it really was all true and not some sick dream, why had it taken so long to come out? How did Jessie end up in an orphanage, and was it just coincidence she'd been brought to the Institute...and if it was a coincidence, how did it all come about?

"We found out completely by accident, Remy. Hank was running tests to pick up various simularities in evolution of mutant DNA – the computer picked up DNA simularities between you and Jessie. The day we found out was the day you and Rogue left for Las Vegas – but you never came back with Rogue."

"You knew where I was, Professor. You could have called me somehow!"

"It wasn't the kind of information I thought was fair to divulge over a phone to you at your hotel."

Remy got up from the chair and paced across the room; "six months! Six fucking months! And I didn't know! And what's more...I've been here a few weeks and you _still_ didn't tell me!"

"How could we?" the Professor asked, his voice a little less patient this time, "if we couldn't be sure how Jessie exists, how could we explain it to you? We added up all the timelines, Remy and none of them made sense to us – do they make any sense to you?"

With a shaky breath, Remy sighed and placed both hands up on the mantel of the fireplace, he stared down into the small crackling fire, "I wasn't with any women at the time she would have been conceived," he uttered. "It would have been April – Bella Donna was living here with us while she was pregnant with...with Gabrielle..." his voice trembled. "So it's _not_ possible."

"And yet, Jessie exists," Professor Xavier let his arms rest on the desk; "Is there anything you've overlooked?"

"How could I overlook something like this?!" Remy snapped, "The year I turned twenty-one I didn't have one-night stands, I never went _anywhere._ I never left the mansion grounds. All I cared about was being there for Belle 'til the baby was born."

Professor Xavier straightened his posture. "So...you have no idea who Jessie's mother is."

"According to the birth certificate it was a Lucille Crowell...but I don't know anyone by _that_ name..." Remy rubbed the back of his neck. "Professor, I don't understand...how can I be a father? To a child I never knew about – how could I have fathered a child when I don't even know the mother?"

"I wish I had answers for you, Remy," The Professor admitted, he turned his chair towards the window at his back and rolled over to glance outside at the gently falling snow.

"I take it Kitty also knows," Remy suddenly realised.

Sighing, the Professor turned back, "yes."

"She knew. All this time she's been pushing me to be with Jessie, trying to get me to bond with her because she knew..."

"Kitty has been trying to tell you for some time, but we held her back concerned for your reaction," the Professor sighed, "I guess you can blame us for our mistakes in judgement."

"You've all been keeping secrets..." Remy shook his head, "it's sick."

"Not everyone knows, Remy," Professor Xavier shook his head, "Kitty, Jean, Myself and Hank are the only ones who were privy to the information – and Moira."

"That's enough."

"Hank expressed concerns about you," The Professor said after a moment of contemplation.

While Remy had known this was coming, he wasn't prepared enough to have a response to this subject – especially after such a quick change from the previous subject.

"New powers manifesting? Being able to charge objects without touching them...it's impressive...and slightly worrying."

"It's no big deal," Remy retorted, his voice was terse and his eyes were cold.

"You cannot afford to take that kind of attitude again when it comes to the manifestation of power – if we'd known about your becoming more powerful years ago, we could have prevented the accident that killed Jared Rickman."

Remy's anger flared, "Oh? Perhaps instead of worrying about _my_ power, you should have been paying attention to Jared's power – that blue haired troll doll had his hand right through my flesh and into my spine and you will never be able to imagine the pain I was in that night – I acted on instinct, fight back with my powers, or die and I chose life over death! You would have done the same."

"Calm down," the Professor warned; he tried to use a soothing voice but it didn't seem to be getting to the already irate Cajun.

"I...I will not calm down!" Remy yelled, and the lightbulbs in the small chandelier on the ceiling exploded, as did the pencil on the desk. "I came back six months later to find out I have a daughter! You knew this all along, and you didn't tell me! Whatever happens with my powers is _my _business. No one else's."

"How much did he push your powers, Remy?"

The question from the Professor took Remy back a little, so that he stopped before he could verbally lash out at the older man. "W-w...What?"

"I see flashes of him sometimes when you dream. Sinister. The man who created the clones, the man who made you so afraid."

Remy folded his arms, "Sinister doesn't scare me, professor, he disgusts me."

"He abused you – severely."

"I survived it," Remy looked away, a pained embarrassment building on his face, "there were things he did that...that made me wish I were dead. But I'm here now. Survived it all and I just want to forget about the whole thing..."

"He ran tests on you."

In response, Remy turned away, "I don't wish to talk about this anymore..." he sighed, "it's Christmas. I'm going to spend it with the woman I love..." he stopped at the door and swallowed his emotion, "and my daughter."

The End...or is it?!!!!!!!!

(Okay, so it's taken FAAAAAAAR too long for me to get to this revelation, but I'm glad it's finally out and now I can move onto the other stuff. Hope you all like it. As per, if you like it, say so, reviews do help inspire me somewhat and give me reason to keep writing.)


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